Sub-£350 powerful laptops discussion

skipsmum

Hi all, I'm getting a new phone contract and have discovered I can have a free laptop!
The choices seem to be:
Asus UL30
Asus X5DC
Lenov!!!50
Dell mini 10v
HP mini 210
Samsung N130

Anyone got any advice? I don't need anything in particular, but would like to check emails and MSE on holiday, and maybe store some holiday pics so I can free up camera card space. I'm quite drawn to the netbooks size wise.
I will be grateful for any thoughts!

RussJK

skipsmum wrote: »

Hi all, I'm getting a new phone contract and have discovered I can have a free laptop!
The choices seem to be:
Asus UL30
Asus X5DC
Lenov!!!50
Dell mini 10v
HP mini 210
Samsung N130

Do you have the specs for those?

Probably the Asus UL30 - 13.3" screen, and dual core processor. The specs vary though, so it depends on what they are going to give you (e.g. two kinds of CPUs, and 6cell or 3cell battery). Eitherway, it'll be more powerful than the other netbooks. I don't know what a Lenov!!!50 is. The X5DC is a 15.6", which you might find too big from what you said. If you like the idea of a 10" netbook, then the Samsung is probably the best choice (compared to the Dell Mini 10v and the HP Mini 210).

You should get an A3 sized piece of paper, and draw some rectangles to simulate the the screen sizes. They measure screen size in diagonal inches, so draw a 10.1" diagonal line, and then turn it into a rectangle. Then do another line 13.3" long, and make that a rectangle. Then for comparison, do a 15.6" if you want. This is what I did, and realised when getting a netbook that I wouldn't be able to stand having an 8.9" screen, and that even a 10" wouldn't be that pleasant. My 12.1" is a good trade off, and 13.3" isn't going to be oversized either.

Also you should share your phone contract deal with others

charuk

I've been recommending this site to all my friends - ukstudentlaptops.com

I got my laptop from there a year ago for university and am very impressed. I didn't really want to buy any cheap makes and this site sells refurbished trusted models. I've also had many of my friends buy theirs from there and all of them are very happy. Don't be tempted to go for any so called reconditioned laptop company though... some sell off any old rubbish. This site actually shows you the effort they put into reconditioning each laptop.

Hobsons_Choice

I'm a Lady Silver Surfer and would like to get rid of spaghetti junction at the back of my old (6years) PC and buy a laptop now that I'm Wi-Fi.
I don't have much money to spend though and would be grateful for any recommendations for a laptop from either Argos, Dell clearance or any other good refurb site. I only use my PC for email and surfing (no gaming, though I do watch the odd video). Min 15" screen. Many thanks for your help

Kaje

Hi guys and gals,

With a bit of a Google I found the 'Money Saving Expert' laptops page but noticed it hasn't been updated since mid-2009.

I'm in the market for a new laptop but only have a budget of £400 and I'm wondering if anybody here can help?

It ideally needs to have 3GB of RAM or more, a good dedicated graphics card (none of that integrated/shared rubbish!) and, if possible, a HDMI (out) port.

I've found one on Play.com, AMD Turion II Dual Core M520 2.3GHz with 3GB RAM, 320GB hard drive and a ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics card (dedicated). Search for Compaq Presario CQ61 - 406SA on Play.com if you want a look as it won't let me post links (first timer!).

It is up for £409.99 but I know somebody with a 10% employee discount code so the price goes down to around £370ish.

Is this a good deal, or can anybody do any better? There's the challenge! Your help would be very, very much appreciated!

zcaprd7

Hi, I've had a rummage on the Argos ebay shop and found this for £280:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MSI-X410-WIDESCREEN-WINDOWS-7-14IN-LAPTOP-REFURB-/330424147297?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4ceed05d61

Specs here:

http://gdgt.com/msi/x410/specs/

Turned up very quickly and looks brand new - they've stuck on windows 7 and the spec seems pretty good for the money - thanks to the poster who mentioned the Argos clearance shop.

rhubarbs

Hi,

Is this offer from Staples any good? Selling for 237.45. Offer apparently ends on Monday so I'd really appreciate some quick feedback.

Thank you

eMachines e525 V.3 Laptop - Intel Celeron Dual-Core T3100 Processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, 15.6" High Brightness Widescreen, Windows 7 Home Premium

A great value 15.6” laptop ideal for basic home computing needs

Store up to 40,000 songs, 45,500 photos or 80 hours of DVD video.
Ideal for multitasking between office, music, photo and internet.
Intel Celeron Dual-Core T3100
1.9GHz processor speed
2GB RAM
160GB Hard Drive
DVD Super Multi Optical Drive
15.6" High Brightness Widescreen Display
5 in 1 Card Reader
Media Card Slots: 5 in 1 (SD,MMC, xD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro)
Graphics: Integrated/Shared Graphics up to 1.3GB Mobile Intel GMA 4500M
Windows 7 Home Premium
2 USB ports
Manufacturers 1 Year Warranty

Norman-B

rhubarbs wrote: »

Hi,

Is this offer from Staples any good? Selling for 237.45. Plus VAT = £279! Offer apparently ends on Monday so I'd really appreciate some quick feedback.

Thank you

eMachines e525 V.3 Laptop - Intel Celeron Dual-Core T3100 Processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, 15.6" High Brightness Widescreen, Windows 7 Home Premium

A great value 15.6” laptop ideal for basic home computing needs

Store up to 40,000 songs, 45,500 photos or 80 hours of DVD video.
Ideal for multitasking between office, music, photo and internet.
Intel Celeron Dual-Core T3100
1.9GHz processor speed
2GB RAM
160GB Hard Drive
DVD Super Multi Optical Drive
15.6" High Brightness Widescreen Display
5 in 1 Card Reader
Media Card Slots: 5 in 1 (SD,MMC, xD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro)
Graphics: Integrated/Shared Graphics up to 1.3GB Mobile Intel GMA 4500M
Windows 7 Home Premium
2 USB ports
Manufacturers 1 Year Warranty

Anyone got an opinion on the above, please.

zcaprd7

Nothing special, but a good price...I'd be suprised if Staples have any left though?

Hobsons_Choice

zcaprd7 wrote: »

Hi, I've had a rummage on the Argos ebay shop and found this for £280:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MSI-X410-WIDESCREEN-WINDOWS-7-14IN-LAPTOP-REFURB-/330424147297?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item4ceed05d61

Specs here:

http://gdgt.com/msi/x410/specs/

Turned up very quickly and looks brand new - they've stuck on windows 7 and the spec seems pretty good for the money - thanks to the poster who mentioned the Argos clearance shop.

Many thanks for this - sorry to be a pain, but this has a 14" screen and I was looking for one over 15", the old eyes ain't what they where!